InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Begin Again ❯ Scroll Nine: Relationships ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: This chapter and the next are slightly shorter than what I've been giving. This and Chapter 10 are only 9 or 10 pages in Word where as the others were anywhere from 16 to 18 in Word. Still, I think they get the point up.

Scroll Nine: Relationships

“Miroku!” Sango stared at the sight before her with large brown eyes. She paled several shades before her cheeks turned red with anger. There, in front of practically the entire village, stood her betrothed clasping the hands of another woman. The said other woman looked shocked to see Sango, but had been blushing as the monk spoke to her. The taijiya could only imagine what the man had been saying. Unable to force herself to speak further, she turned on her heel and practically ran back towards Kaede’s hut.

The houshi started at the unexpected exclamation of his name and turned to see his shocked fiancé. He could undoubtedly guess what was on her mind when he looked guiltily down at his hands, still gripped around the other woman’s hands. Quickly he let her go and turned around to explain, only to find Sango’s retreating back.

“Please do excuse me, Mika, but I must go and take care of this misunderstanding,” he apologized shortly before jogging off after the runaway bride. “Sango! Sango, please, just stop and listen. I can explain.”

The woman turned on him, dark brown eyes blazing with an intensity that he had not seen since they fought Naraku. But behind the anger was a stronger feeling, one of betrayal and disappointment. She had trusted him when he told her that…wait…he had never told her that he loved her. He had only said that he was keeping his promise. Maybe it had nothing to do with love…he just felt responsible…

She choked trying to hold back a sob. He held her arms now so that she couldn’t run away and she fought to loosen his hold. “I don’t want your explanations, Miroku! I understand, believe me I do.” When she decided he wasn’t going to let her go, she turned her head away from him and went limp in his grip. “I just can’t listen to them any longer. Old habits die hard, yes, I know. You cannot help yourself, I understand.”

“Sango, it was nothing like that.” He tried to get her to look at him, knowing he had messed up. But he had to make her understand that his actions had nothing to do with what she believed. He couldn’t and wouldn’t allow some silly misunderstanding to come between them.

She simply closed her eyes, keeping her gaze from him. She did not want him to see just how much it had hurt her to see him flirting with another woman after he had promised himself to her. “Then it’s true,” she muttered quietly. “You only asked me to live with you, to be your wife, because you felt you would find no one else. Now that Naraku is gone you’ve only stood by that promise because of some strange sense of honor?”

“Sango -”

“Miroku, I do not want you to only marry me out of obligation. I would much rather pretend this entire thing had never happened if that was your only reasoning.” Her cheeks blossomed into a light blush when she felt a tear roll down her cheek followed by another. “Now let me go.”

His hands on her arms tightened. “Not until you hear what I have to say.” He loosened one hand and brought it up to grip her chin, turning her face to look at him. “The woman you saw me with just now is named Mika. Her mother has a talent with a needle and thread. One of the young men here in the village is going to visit a relative a few days travel from here. While there, he is going to use the money that I have given him to purchase several lengths of fine cloth which Mika’s mother will then piece together into a wedding kimono for you. I was giving Mika the money and thanking her for help in arranging my gift to you, Sango.”

Her lower lip trembled and she blinked back more tears as her heart suddenly became a little less burdened and hope rose in her eyes. “Miroku -”

He maneuvered his hand so that his fingers covered her lips. “When I asked you before if you would live with me and bear my children, I asked because I knew that you were special and that I would never meet another woman like you. You, Sango, were a woman that I could spend my life with. I would never have asked you otherwise. My being here has nothing to do with honor. I’m in love with you, Sango. I thought you understood that.”

She released a breath she hadn’t realized that she’d been holding and stared at him with large eyes, trying to see if what he said was really true. Please let it be true…Finally deciding that he had hidden nothing from her in his gaze, she leaned into him, fisting her hands into the material of his robes. “I’m sorry, Miroku,” she muttered and closed her eyes taking in the sense of him surrounding her.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, lightly kissing the top of her head. His hand rubbed gentle circles over her back as she finally began to relax. “It’s alright, Sango. I know that in the past I have not been the perfect example of monogamy, but you are going to have to trust me.” He felt her nod against his chest and smiled slightly. “You can trust me, you know. I would never purposefully hurt you. I want you to be happy. I want to make you happy.”

She sighed and slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, nodding again. “I’m sorry Miroku…I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I want to trust you. I…I love you…“

He loosened one arm and brought it up to her face, cupping her cheek for a moment sliding his hand down to her chin, lifting so that she had to look at him. Her eyes opened in surprise and met his before he captured her lips with his in a soft kiss. Her eyes slid closed and when he pulled away she found herself leaning up on her tip toes in an effort to keep his actions going. He chuckled and brushed his lips across hers once more before letting her go.

Kagome shook her head and stood up. How could she have let her mother talk her into this? She had known that this night would be a disaster and she was right. Her father was hounding her for information regarding Inuyasha and her stepmother was acting oblivious to the whole thing. Poor Souta looked like he expected the Grim Reaper to burst through the closet and drag him to hell at any second. Too bad her little brother failed to realize one thing - this was hell. Kagome's own personal hell to be exact.

She reached over and put a hand on Souta's arm, sighing when he nearly jumped out of his skin. Her dark blue eyes went to her father and narrowed. "It's time that this dinner was over."

"But we haven't even had dessert yet," Ikoku argued quietly, looking disappointed. She set her chopsticks down and looked at her plate. Things weren't going well, she realized that, but she wanted so badly to be accepted by her husband's children.

"I‘m really sorry, Ikoku-san, but I think it would be best if we went home now. Thank you very much for the invitation and the meal. Your oden was delicious and I'm sure you're dessert would have been too." She managed an apologetic smile at the woman who couldn’t have been more than ten years older than she was.

"You must take some home with you then, if you must go. I'll put it in a container for you." Ikoku brightened slightly and attempted to stand up, managing slowly and with a grunt. "Your family likes chocolate, ne? I made a two layer fudge cake with white chocolate frosting. How many people are in your house? I want to make sure to send enough."

Kagome started gathering her stuff and rifled through her purse for her mother's cell phone and handed it to Souta. "Go call Mama and tell her we're coming home so she won't worry." He nodded and took the phone, glad for an excuse to leave the table. "There's five if you count Inuyasha - he's there so much he practically lives there…“ she added when Haruki’s brow quirked in a curious manner, “but I don't know if chocolate would be good for him..." Dogs were allergic to chocolate, weren't they? She'd always heard that you shouldn't give a dog chocolate because it would make them sick and Inuyasha was part inu youkai...but he was only part inu youkai so maybe it wouldn't hurt him...She'd let him have a small piece if he asked just to make sure he didn't get ill.

"Five? Your mother must be a saint." Ikoku grinned. "How does she manage to take care of four people? I can't even begin to imagine how I'm going to take care of the baby and Haruki."

Kagome shrugged. "Mama is a great person. She's very patient and she's very understanding and accepting and loving and...well, she's the best mother anyone could ever ask for." She puts up with an egotistical, arrogant, rude hanyou and a daughter who's hardly there because of time travel...and she's putting up with you. She looked around as Souta came back into the room.

"Mama doesn't want us walking home alone," he stated flatly and handed the phone back to her.

Haruki stood up and reached for his coat. "I'll take you."

"I'd rather risk walking alone."

Father and daughter glared at each other, the anger between them rising to a new level. There was still so much to be said between them and neither felt that they could say it for fear of hurting the present company. She was quickly realizing that what she told Inuyasha before about hating Ikoku wasn't true. She didn't hate the woman - couldn't hate the woman, really. It wasn't her fault that she loved Haruki despite his past. After all, all she had to do was look at her own relationship with Inuyasha. And she certainly wasn't going to place blame on the unborn child. Besides Naraku's incarnation in baby form, it wasn't in her nature to hate a child. It wasn't like the kid chose to who it's parents were and she would make sure to be as much a part of her half sibling's life as she was in Souta's life. Kami forbid that they should have a relationship like some other half siblings she knew.

"Mama sent Inuyasha to come and get us so you don't have to bother." Souta interrupted their stare down and shifted from side to side nervously. "It shouldn't take him long to get here."

Kagome groaned. "He's gonna have to take the elevator." She could just imagine Inuyasha trying to figure out how to work the lift without her there to show him.

Souta snickered. "I hope the building's got a good insurance policy."

Haruki frowned in confusion. What were they talking about? "Hasn't the boy ever used an elevator before? What's the big deal?"

"No, he's not used one before and the big deal is - is that it's not really any of your business." Kagome crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from her father. "Souta, do you mind waiting downstairs for him? You can buzz me when he gets here."

"Sure, nee-chan, whatever." He nodded and practically flew out of the door, grateful to be allowed to get away.

Haruki hung his coat back up and sent a cold look to his daughter. "There was no need to send that boy. I could have taken you home myself. What good is a kid like him going to be if you get attacked on your way back to the shrine? These streets are dangerous." He crossed his arms over his chest, his stance matching that of Kagome. Ikoku looked from one to the other as she put the container of cake with the teen's things and almost smiled at the similarities between them.

Kagome took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing to mere slits. "Inuyasha is quite capable of protecting us. He does it every day and he wouldn't think twice about risking his own life to save me or Souta. He's stronger than you give him credit for and he's a very capable fighter. There is no one in the world that I'd feel safer with. Mama trusts him and most importantly, I trust him."

"I would still feel better if I was the one taking you home. That way I would know you were safe."

Kagome's hands fell to her side and her fists clenched. "How dare you stand there and try to act fatherly and protective! Since when do you care about our well being? Stop pretending to be our father. We've gotten along just fine these past years without you and we'll get along just fine when you decide to leave again. I don't need you. Souta doesn't need you. Mama doesn't need you."

Haruki gave her a warning look. "You cannot make decisions based on things you know nothing about. I am about sick of your attitude young lady."

"And I should care because?" Her look was curious while still being angry.

"I am your father."

"So you say." She shook her head in disgust. "You say I shouldn't make decisions based on things I know nothing about? What don't I know? Why don't you tell me? Tell me!" She hadn't realized she'd started to cry until then and she quickly and roughly wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Haruki just stood there, staring at her with nothing to say...nothing he could say. She knew why. His career had been the foremost thing on his mind in those days and while he realized now that it was wrong of him to leave, he had done it and there was nothing he could do to change it. And he really didn't want to admit aloud that his decisions had been bad ones.

Luckily the buzzer saved him and Souta announced that Inuyasha had arrived while Inuyasha was in the background demanding that she hurry her ass up. Kagome grabbed her jacket and her purse, wiping her eyes clear as best she could. He'd still know she'd been crying, but at least Souta wouldn't be able to see it. "Thank you very much for the meal, Ikoku-san. I apologize if we made the afternoon unpleasant for you." Her voice was monotone as she tried to keep herself under control. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kagome. Tell your brother that I enjoyed meeting him." Ikoku walked her to the front door while Haruki stormed to the bedroom like a pouting child. "Your Inuyasha sounds like a fantastic boy. You're lucky to have him." Before Kagome could leave however, she grabbed the teen's arm. "I know your father has done things in the past that were stupid and downright mean, but he really does want to try and be a father now. He wishes for the four - five of us to be a functional family. He wants the baby to know you both and so do I, more than anything."

Kagome sighed. "I won't promise that I'll change my views on him, but I'll still be here for the baby. I mean, it can't help who its father is. For the baby's sake I hope he is ready to be a father again. For your sake too. He put Mama through hell when he left and I'd hate to know it was happening to someone else."

“What happened?” Inuyasha demanded, frowning when she came off the elevator to meet them in the lobby. “And don’t say nothing ‘cause the kid’s upset and you’ve been crying.” His fists clenched involuntarily with his desire to go upstairs and teach Higarashi Haruki just what happens to people that hurt his family.

Kagome shook her head and put a hand on his arm, sliding it down till she could grasp his hand in hers. “Don’t worry about it, Inuyasha. There’s nothing you can do about it now, so just don’t worry about it.” She sighed and gave him a grateful half smile when he squeezed her hand.

Souta walked in front of them so they could keep an eye on him on the dark streets. “I told you, Inu-no-nii-chan, she and dad got in a fight,” he reiterated, looking over his shoulder as he spoke. “He said you and Kagome -”

“Souta,” she hissed in warning. Inuyasha had paused and was attempting to backtrack back to the building, but she tugged his hand, keeping him in place. “Don’t, Inuyasha, it’s not worth it. He was just trying to tell me what to do and I wouldn’t listen.”

“Damnit, Kagome, why are you putting up with his shit?” Inuyasha mumbled. Knowing he wasn’t supposed to curse in front of the kid, he tried to keep his voice down. “Your ofukoro already said if you didn’t want to deal with him, you didn’t have to.”

Kagome took a deep breath and shook her head. “It isn’t about me, Inuyasha,” she replied in a hushed voice. “It’s about Souta. The fact of the matter is that dad’s been really good to him so far and Souta needs a father figure in his life - someone besides jii-chan. Mama and I’ve done all we can, but there’s just some things he’s gonna need a man around to teach him.” She looked at the back of her brother’s head and smiled slightly. They may fight and he may have gotten on her nerves on a regular basis, but he was her brother and she wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world. “Souta’s decided if I shut dad out, then he is too. So, if I have to put up with his disapproval of my choice of activities or friends so that Souta can know his father then I’ll just have to get used to it.”

Inuyasha scowled and started to say something, but Souta interrupted. He’d been quiet while the two were conversing, but now he decided to voice his thoughts. “I don’t get what dad’s problem is. I mean, what’s he got against Inuyasha, anyway? He doesn’t even know him.”

Kagome had a few ideas as to what Haruki’s grudge against the hanyou might have been, but she decided not to voice them. Instead she said, “Some people are just like that, that’s all. He’ll get over it eventually.”

“Yeah, well, the next time he says anything,” Inuyasha growled, “you can tell him the feeling’s mutual.”

Kagome brushed out her hair in front of her dresser mirror while Inuyasha sat on her bed with his eyes closed, hands tucked into the opposite sleeves. “Remind me to never agree to that sort of thing again. I’d rather have been here.” She put her brush down and went to the bed, crawling across the covers until she sat next to him and could lay her head over on his shoulder. “He’s even more irritating than you.” He grunted in response and she giggled, nudging him with her elbow.

“I don’t get how he could’ve left his kids behind. What’s he do that’s so important?” Inuyasha wondered out loud. Normally he’d have never voiced his curiosity at the situation but they were alone and they were in her era which made him feel more open and free to speak to her as he would like to speak with her. For some reason the comfort she felt in her own home and in her own time made him feel more at ease with her…and that there was no chance a certain monk or kitsune could be spying on them had something to do with it also.

Kagome sighed and lifted her head from his shoulder, shifting so that she could draw her knees up to her chest. “He’s a stock broker and his job is dealing with people’s money and businesses. Say Miroku opened an inn and to get money to start the inn, he sold a share of the inn to each of us. He would own the majority of the inn so that would make him the official owner but we would still own a part of it. As Miroku’s inn began to take in patrons and earn money, we would earn a percentage of the profit. If Miroku didn’t get any customers and started loosing money, we’d loose too. Say, Sango was tired of loosing money by investing in the inn, she would go to someone like my dad and cash out her stock in the inn and my dad would find someone else to buy her share of the inn for a reduced price.”

Inuyasha nodded. While words like ‘stock’ or ‘stock broker’ made little to no sense to him, he could understand her explanation of Haruki’s work. The concept wasn’t that difficult to grasp. “So, why’d he leave?”

Her eyes closed and she seemed to draw in on herself. “We lived in an apartment on the other side of Tokyo when Souta and I were born. It was a nice place to live from what I remember. Then, when I was six he had to go on a business trip to talk to some of the company people about changes in the business or something like that. He was gonna be gone for a month so Mama moved us into the shrine with Jii-chan.”

She scooted closer to him while she talked and he absently lifted his arm so she could snuggle into his side with his arm around her shoulders. She bit her lip to hide her smile and continued. “I was upset because he was leaving so he promised that he would take me to the beach when he got back. We’d all go, he’d said, and he’d teach me to swim. He also promised that he’d bring me back an extra special present because he would be missing my birthday.

“When he came back, he was excited about something and I could hear him and Mama talking in the back bedroom. When they came out, he was angry and Mama was upset. I didn’t know what was wrong at the time, but he didn’t even unpack his bags before he came and told me and Souta that he had to leave again. Jii-chan was angry too…apparently he knew what was going on. When they went outside, he and dad got into it.

“It wasn’t until a few days later that dad came back and explained to me that he had to go leave us. I guess he and Mama had been arguing about it while he was gone because they already had made a decision. He would go to this new company and work there and we would stay with Jii-chan. Since he was going to be gone for so long, he and Mama were going to get divorced - they wouldn’t be married anymore.” Her fingers played with the hem of her pajama shirt. “He never did take me to the beach.”

Inuyasha’s arm tightened around her shoulders and she smiled gratefully, leaning further into him. “I wrote him letters and I tried calling him, but he never returned them. After a while I gave and decided he didn’t want us anymore, that he didn’t care. After that I didn’t care anymore. I had Souta and Mama and Jii-chan and my friends so it wasn’t like I was missing out on anything.” She yawned and he removed his arm, scooting off of the bed and starting for the window when she reached out a hand to stop him. “It’s supposed to rain tonight.”

“Oh.” He gave the window a skeptical look and then looked back at Kagome who was looking at him expectantly, wondering if he was really considering sleeping in the rain. “Well…uh…where’s that other room you were talking about?”

A smile spread on her face and she grabbed his hand, crawling off the bed to show him to his room.